The spokesperson for Youth of the Socialist Parliamentary Group in the Assembly of Extremadura, Aitor Vaquerizo, has censured the regional Executive for having decided not to put into effect subsidies or assume the discount on the transport pass for the students from Extremadura who are studying in the Community of Madrid, after the Junta ruled out assuming the two million euros that this measure would entail.
Vaquerizo has described this decision as "an act of political cowardice and a flagrant slight to more than 3,000 families in the region" and has warned that the refusal of the regional government led by María Guardiola "amounts to punishing" young people from Extremadura for studying outside their land "degrees that, in many cases, are not offered in Extremadura".
"More than 3,000 Extremaduran families whose sons and daughters are studying in the Community of Madrid, in most cases because the educational offering they are taking does not exist in our land, have to pay more for the public transport they take every morning simply because Ms. Ayuso has imposed a forced registration," he said.
The Socialist representative has recalled that the PSOE already registered on July 3 a proposal for a pronouncement in the Assembly of Extremadura to demand that the Community of Madrid immediately withdraw this requirement. This initiative was debated in the plenary session on July 16 and evidenced, according to the party, the "lack of support" from the PP.
For the PSOE, the decision of the Junta places "thousands of young people" before an "unfair" dilemma, that is, between "assuming an unaffordable additional cost in public transport or deregistering from Extremadura in order to access the discounts".
"We are facing a policy that penalizes those who maintain their link with Extremadura and that, instead of favoring rootedness, pushes our young people to administratively sever ties with their land," Vaquerizo said.
"It is unacceptable that Guardiola's government describes as disproportionate defending our students' wallets. Saying that they are not going to do anything is certifying that they prefer to kneel before the demands of Génova and Ms. Ayuso rather than defend the equal opportunities of our youth," he criticized.
The Socialist deputy has demanded that Guardiola "work, act as president and immediately negotiate a fair solution so that no student is administratively expelled from their land".